The future of baseball

OttoC

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Dec 2, 2003
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I know that the NFL has cracked down on entering its stadiums but I hadn't realized that MLB had gotten this far--metal detectors, wands, pat downs--until I went to a game at Minute Maid Park in Houston last week. That was more than I went through at the airport
 
 

rembrat

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May 26, 2006
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Wassup with Houston? I went to AT&T park game in June and didn't have to go through TSA. Even entry to a Yankee game was chill compared to this.
 

Yaz4Ever

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I was wanded in St. Louis, but not in KC (although I did see a wand sitting on a turnstile ready for anyone to grab).
 
Also, while in KC, I discovered one of the hottest female MLB fans in the world.  She's a season ticket holder and sits in seat one, row 3, of section 149.  Married and with a really nice son (who I would've given a ball to had I caught one).  Didn't speak with her at all, but she was breathtakingly beautiful and seemed very down to earth in how she interacted with the other season ticket holders in that section.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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We live in a world where pressure cooker bombs are placed on marathon routes to kill children. The Tsarnaev brothers could have just as easily bought tickets and done that at Fenway. I'll gladly deal with ten seconds of inconvenience at the gate if it means preventing some jihadist nut case from blowing up my whole section.
 

Spacemans Bong

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Considering every park already checks your bags, that's already been considered.
 
I had to do this in Oakland. It was so transparently fucking stupid security was actually worse. To keep the line moving they were basically rolling their eyes at any blip of the metal detector. "You got keys in that pocket?" "Yeah." "Move on, sir.".
 

OttoC

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B H Kim said:
MLB is requiring metal detectors at all stadiums for next season.
 
I missed that announcement.
 
The weird thing was (to me) that the large SABR group that went to the park earlier in the afternoon for some panels was not subjected to anything more than the usual bag search. Our meeting broke up and we were headed to the concourse area when I saw the above (I was going to add that I did a double-take but I only took one picture). I wonder how minor-league baseball is going to respond.
 

montoursvillefan

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SemperFidelisSox said:
We live in a world where pressure cooker bombs are placed on marathon routes to kill children. The Tsarnaev brothers could have just as easily bought tickets and done that at Fenway. I'll gladly deal with ten seconds of inconvenience at the gate if it means preventing some jihadist nut case from blowing up my whole section.
 

OBPercent1

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It has started to filter down to the Minor Leagues as well - Minor League baseball came down with a mandate that all teams had to tightened up security at their parks - The Pawsox hired an independent firm to do McCoy.
 

OttoC

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OBPercent1 said:
It has started to filter down to the Minor Leagues as well - Minor League baseball came down with a mandate that all teams had to tightened up security at their parks - The Pawsox hired an independent firm to do McCoy.
 
It's time for.........Naked Baseball!
 

snowmanny

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Yaz4Ever said:
I was wanded in St. Louis, but not in KC (although I did see a wand sitting on a turnstile ready for anyone to grab).
 

Also, while in KC, I discovered one of the hottest female MLB fans in the world.  She's a season ticket holder and sits in seat one, row 3, of section
149.  Married and with a really nice son (who I would've given a ball to had I caught one).  Didn't speak with her at all, but she was breathtakingly beautiful and seemed very down to earth in how
she interacted with the other season ticket holders in that section.
What sort of car did she drive home?
 

OttoC

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montoursvillefan said:
 
We live in a world where pressure cooker bombs are placed on marathon routes to kill children. The Tsarnaev brothers could have just as easily bought tickets and done that at Fenway. I'll gladly deal with ten seconds of inconvenience at the gate if it means preventing some jihadist nut case from blowing up my whole section.
 
 
They could have done it without buying tickets. Just get in line or go to Yawkey Way or the T station serving the area.
 

nattysez

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rembrat said:
Wassup with Houston? I went to AT&T park game in June and didn't have to go through TSA. Even entry to a Yankee game was chill compared to this.
 
I'm curious what entrance you used.  AT&T had the metal detectors up for both games I attended this year -- I entered through the main gate. 
 

riboflav

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I was actually thinking that I'd rather live in a world where I am not wanded or searched in any way and take my .000001% chance that me or a member of my family is murdered by a terrorist. 
 

Orel Miraculous

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SemperFidelisSox said:
We live in a world where pressure cooker bombs are placed on marathon routes to kill children. The Tsarnaev brothers could have just as easily bought tickets and done that at Fenway. I'll gladly deal with ten seconds of inconvenience at the gate if it means preventing some jihadist nut case from blowing up my whole section.
 
The single most dangerous thing a person does on a day that they go to a ballgame is get in their car and drive there. So a question for you: would you also gladly deal with the inconvenience of a 30 mph speed limit on the highway?  Because that would save a lot more lives than this security theater does.
 

RG33

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Orel Miraculous said:
The single most dangerous thing a person does on a day that they go to a ballgame is get in their car and drive there. So a question for you: would you also gladly deal with the inconvenience of a 30 mph speed limit on the highway?  Because that would save a lot more lives than this security theater does.
While this may be true, aren't stadiums more of a target because of the symbolic nature of things? Its kind of like why airplane security is so ridiculous versus being in Faneuil Hall, where in most cases only 300 people would die in a plane crash. There's also the context where, God forbid,if something happened at a U.S. stadium, teams/leagues realize the potential massive economic impact it would have on them - so why not add some additional security. Either way, its not a big deal IMO.
 

Toe Nash

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Well the additional security costs money, and makes the customer experience worse. Is it worth it when having police posted / cameras monitored looking for suspicious actions (which they probably do already) would likely be more useful?
 
I think these are more for finding weapons than bombs anyway. They really wouldn't want someone to get stabbed or shot at a game and that seems more likely (of course, it could just happen in the parking lot). 
 

canderson

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Baltimore passively looks through your bags but you can still bring in outside food and drinks. It's the only stadium I've been to - minor league or pro - you can bring in outside food. It's awesome.
 

metaprosthesis

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Yaz4Ever said:
I was wanded in St. Louis, but not in KC (although I did see a wand sitting on a turnstile ready for anyone to grab).
 
Also, while in KC, I discovered one of the hottest female MLB fans in the world.  She's a season ticket holder and sits in seat one, row 3, of section 149.  Married and with a really nice son (who I would've given a ball to had I caught one).  Didn't speak with her at all, but she was breathtakingly beautiful and seemed very down to earth in how she interacted with the other season ticket holders in that section.
 
 
I call hoax.  There is no section 149 at Kauffman:

http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/images/ballpark/stadium_maps/kc_ballpark_1_1400.gif
 

OttoC

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canderson said:
Baltimore passively looks through your bags but you can still bring in outside food and drinks. It's the only stadium I've been to - minor league or pro - you can bring in outside food. It's awesome.
 
Minute Maid Park in Houston allows you to bring water in factory-sealed, clear plastic bottles and food that fits in a clear bag not bigger than one-gallon capacity. There are some other parks like that.
 

Max Power

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canderson said:
Baltimore passively looks through your bags but you can still bring in outside food and drinks. It's the only stadium I've been to - minor league or pro - you can bring in outside food. It's awesome.
 
You can bring whatever food you want into Fenway and sealed water bottles.
 
They've been doing the wand thing more aggressively since the start of the season. Some guys will make you take everything out of your pockets and turn around completely. I just look for the least interested kid and get in his line. It usually goes quickly.
 

Lars The Wanderer

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Spacemans Bong said:
Growing up going to games in Oakland and SF, I was confounded when I went on the Internet and found out other teams didn't allow fans to bring in outside food. Back in the Candlestick days you saw tons of people doing that.
 
This is my reaction when I go to a park outside of California and see wandering beer vendors. It always surprises me.
 

loshjott

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canderson said:
Baltimore passively looks through your bags but you can still bring in outside food and drinks. It's the only stadium I've been to - minor league or pro - you can bring in outside food. It's awesome.
 
Nats Park also. You can bring in sealed water bottles, your own empty water bottle, and any food. Basically anything except non-water drinks.
 

DJnVa

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Yaz4Ever said:
mea culpa
 
Section 148.  Sorry.
 
Extremely unflattering picture of said fan in my "view from our seats" picture:
 
 
 
I think one of the Real Housewives was there. And she ain't hot.